Mustang Daily 07-16-09

Page 1

TOMORROW: SUNNY High 93˚/Low 56˚

SUMMeR MUSTANG CA L I F O R N I A P O LY T E C H N I C S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y More than 800 Potter fans lined up for the midnight showing. Check out video at mustangdaily.net

Cal Poly men’s soccer team announced a competative schedule on Monday. IN SPORTS, 8

Volume LXXIII, Number 4

Thursday, July 16, 2009

www.mustangdaily.net

Legislation could bring $1 billion to higher ed Lauren Rabaino MUstaNG daiLY

Amid a $584 million budget deficit in the California State University system, an assemblyman is presenting legislation that, if passed, would bring a projected $1 billion in funds to state colleges and universities. The legislation, Assembly Bill 656, introduced by Assemblyman Alberto Torrico (D-Newark) would put a 9.9 percent severance tax on oil and gas in California and give that money to California’s higher education system. Of the money, 60 percent would go to the CSU, 30 percent to the UC and 10 percent to the community college. Although early versions of the bill were intended to provide money toward renewable energy education, the most recent revision would direct money toward any and all facets of higher education — including new buildings, faculty pay, classes and more. “That change is a direct response to the 20 to 30 years of depleting funds for California public education,” said Lillian Taiz, a professor at Cal State Fullerton and president of the California Faculty Association, which helped write

the bill. Although money raised from the tax wouldn’t solve the CSU’s current budget deficit immediately, it would prevent a future deficit. “If it were in existence now, maybe we wouldn’t be talking about a 30 percent [student] fee increase,” Taiz said. “It’s not a total problem-solver ... but at a time like this, it would be a safety net.” To date, California is one of the few states in the U.S. that doesn’t already impose a severance tax on oil and gas companies for exporting the state’s fossil fuels — which has been a selling point for the bill. And California is not alone. Large oil-producing states like Pennsylvania and Iowa have no severance taxes on oil either. “The oil belongs to the state,” Torrico said. “It’s the people’s money, not the oil companies’.” This isn’t the first time legislation has been pursued to tax oil companies. Legislators have tried passing a severance tax in California dozens of times since 1930. However, Brian Ferguson, a spokesperson for the CFA, said that this time it’s different. “We think we’ve remedied the issues that have plagued this in the

Breakdown of funds from ab 656

past,” he said. For example, a provision in the bill makes it illegal to pass the severance costs onto taxpayers.” There is also a “make whole” provision to the bill to ensure that local municipalities don’t lose money.

Although there is not a California severance tax, that’s not to say that oil companies aren’t paying. California oil companies pay taxes to the state and local governments, corporation taxes, sales and use taxes and local property taxes, which constitute the sixth-heaviest

tax burden among the 10 largest producing states in the U.S., according to a 2009 report from Law and Economics Consulting Group (LECG). Ferguson said they’ve taken that fact into consideration. see Oil, page 2

California tax officials: Legal CSU cuts enrollment pot would bring $1.4 billion CFA struggles to vote Marcus Wohlsen associated press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A bill to tax and regulate marijuana in California would generate nearly $1.4 billion in revenue for the cash-strapped state, according to an official analysis released Wednesday by tax officials. The State Board of Equalization report estimates marijuana retail sales would bring $990 million from a $50-per-ounce fee and $392 million in sales taxes. The bill introduced by San Francisco Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano in February would allow adults 21 and older to legally possess, grow and sell marijuana. Ammiano has promoted the bill as a way to help bridge the state’s $26.3 billion budget shortfall. “It defies reason to propose

closing parks and eliminating vital services for the poor while this potential revenue is available,” Ammiano said in a statement. The way the bill is written, the state could not begin collecting taxes until the federal government legalizes marijuana. A spokesman says Ammiano plans to amend the bill to remove that provision. The legislation requires all revenue generated by the $50-perounce fee to be used for drug education and rehabilitation programs. The state’s 9 percent sales tax would be applied to retail sales, while the fee would likely be charged at the wholesale level and built into the retail price. The Equalization Board used law enforcement and academic studies to calculate that about 16 million ounces — or 500 tons — of marijuana are consumed in California each year.

MUstaNG daiLY staFF report

Marijuana use would likely increase by about 30 percent once the law took effect because legalsee Marijuana, page 2

Enrollment Freeze The chancellor’s office announced July 9 in a press release that spring admission will be closed on all California State University (CSU) campuses in an effort to reduce the budget deficit. The CSU system typically admits around 35,000 students in spring. The chancellor’s office wants to reduce enrollment by a total of 40,000 students for the 20102011 academic year. Cal Poly will not be affected by the spring admission freeze because the university had not planned on admitting students for the winter or spring quarters. Enrollment cuts save the CSU system money because for every dollar that students pay in tuition, the state pays two, said Erik Fallis, a representative from the chancellor’s office.The Chancellor’s office

is also considering a 20 percent fee increase for students as well as furloughs that would cut salaries for staff, faculty and administrators. Furlough Vote The California Faculty Association started voting on whether or not to approve furloughs Monday and has encountered a few technical difficulties. Due to a software glitch not all faculty members received the link to cast their ballot online or the votes that were cast were not counted. CFA officers are re-running the election to make sure that all votes were counted and there is confidence in the results. In an email sent to CFA members, CFA officers said the company handling the online voting had fixed the error and explaining that all members that voted on the first link will need to recast them on the second.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.